Common SEO Myths Dispelled

Despite the increasing maturity
of the SEO industry, there are
still many unfounded beliefs,
practices and tactics that
website owners adhere to in
an effort to top the search
engine result pages (SERPs)
and oust their competition.

Regardless of how many times these myths, half-truths
and lies are repeated, they will never help an
enterprise optimize its digital efforts. Let’s debunk
four of these fallacies.

MYTH #1: Organic & Paid Search
Cannot Play Nice

Many website owners fall into two types: those
who choose between SEO and paid search advertising/
marketing and those looking for the “right”
balance of the two.

“This research puts to rest the controversy over
running paid search advertising for brands that have
strong organic coverage,” said Aaron Goldman, chief
marketing officer at Kenshoo in a company statement.
“Our study shows that visitors arriving from paid
search are more profitable than those arriving from organic
search, even when you take into account traffic
acquisition costs.”

The report found that paid search drives
higher net revenue per visit (NRPV, which is
paid search revenue minus the direct media
costs from those clicks) than organic search.
Plus, even with an organic result at first position,
consumers still click and convert on
paid listings 39.6 percent of the time. Perhaps
even more importantly, Kenshoo reports
that paid search is the only viable
option when organic results fall off the first
page, garnering 93.1 percent of a keyword’s
click share (percentage of total clicks
achieved when both a paid search and organic
listing appear together).

Even if NRPV was equal, having an extra (paid)
link on the SERP is more valuable than having just the
organic link, according to the search marketing company.
By leveraging a paid listing, for example, it takes
up space where a competitor’s ad may appear. There is
also value in the data that marketers can collect from
paid search, such as the originating query or keyword
that initiated the ad. Kenshoo recommends companies
figure out where the gaps are in their organic search
presences and use paid search to fill in those holes.

Kenshoo, and other well-informed agencies,
subscribe to the truth that smart marketers are those
embracing holistic approaches to search engine marketing.
They are also likely the ones getting the most
out of their investments.

MYTH #2: SEO is for Search Engines, Not Users

Search engines are evolving; and the richer, more dynamic
experience they want to provide users is also
changing the way companies need to approach on-site
optimization today.

“SEO is not about gaming the system; it’s about
making great content and great sites that provide value,
are structurally sound and easily navigable by user and
search engines alike, as well as demonstrate viable authority.
It’s not easy, but it is absolutely worthwhile,”
said Smarter Searches Internet Marketing Director
Courtney Herda.

The recent Hummingbird update is the perfect example
of Google’s affinity toward user-centric search —
providing quicker, more relevant information to users.
This algorithm change also marks the beginning of a
new formal, broader use of semantic markup in the digital
age.

By using schema.org markup, for example, websites
are essentially providing additional layers of data
to enable search engines to associate their sites with
user queries. More specifically, since the Hummingbird
update addresses how “conversational” or
“voice” search queries (that take into account context,
location and more) can be more useful for a searcher, site owners must provide an immense amount of information
to be included in their results and semantic
markup provides the optimal way to do that.

MYTH #3: Social is not the New SEO

SEO and social is becoming one of the most effective
marketing combinations. The only surefire way to leverage
the new social-SEO is to create relevant, rich content
that consumers want to consume and, of course, share,
like, retweet, +1, etc.

“There’s a saying that says ‘Correlation does not imply
causation’ and this applies to SEO,” said Smarter Searches’
Herda. “If you create great content, people will share it. If
your content gets shared, it must be great.”

While there might not be an absolute direct correlation, it’s
not difficult to see that share-worthy content can benefit your
total digital presence (wsm.co/sharethis8).

MYTH #4: SEOs Are Scammers

This industry is closing in on two decades and SEO still
doesn’t have a governing body. Companies rely on forprofit
companies to tell them what they can and can’t do
on their websites — at least if they want to appear atop
the SERPs. Over the years, many black and gray hat agencies,
consultants, link builders and more have polluted
the industry, leading to the common misconception that
SEO is a dark art and an industry made up of liars,
cheaters, scammers and spammers. Even to this day, according
to Herda, it is the most common concern that
SMBs have about the practice.

The fact is, according to Herda, that legitimate SEO
agencies can do great work. Similarly, many of the agencies
that have stood the test of time have evolved into integrated
marketing agencies, taking holistic and white hat
approaches to Web success.

“The spirit of SEO is to improve your website so that
it ranks better,” said Herda. “When done correctly, this
means the user engaging in search is getting a better experience
when visiting your site because your site is more
relevant to their queries.”

The Truth Will Set SEO Free

In the end, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to getting
your business higher in the search rankings, but by leveraging
a 360-degree strategy to SEO and looking at content
creation, social signals, marketing mix and user experience,
you’ll be living, working and optimizing in SEO truth.

I don't see how the SEO you describe above is different from web design and digital marketing. Google has made it clear for years- in essence- create great content and they will come. SEO in my mind is links, structure and keywords, expanding it beyond that is the realm of digital marketing. Most of what you describe is multichannel marketing which is defined here http://ecommunism.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/digital-marketing-a-multichannel-approach-the-internet-is-your-funnel/ .

SEO, as a method to game the system, is dead. And, it deserves that way too. As soon as some marketers found secrets tactics to get unfair advantages, SEO companies mushroomed all over the world. Soon, everybody and their dog, was running SEO campaigns, that unsuspecting people started paying a monthly fee.

That's why I started a movement called "TheSpeakingTree.org" - a movement against unethical marketing. Join and support. Let's make the digital marketplace cleaner, transparent and more efficient.

True, true, true and more true. All great truths about the modern world of SEO, particularly that SEO or SUO is definitely the right way to build, as if users find your site content enriching, eventually search engines will as well.

I agree, good SEO these days is a holistic approach. You need all the parts of the puzzle to come together, content,backlinks,social sharing. Also agree that paid advertising running alongside organic traffic is going to bring positive results. Nice Article.

In reference to social media and SEO. Seriously have you ever been able to go to a specific tweet or Facebook post that might get indexed?

Facebook is eventually going to kill itself. They make changes that no one,except Facebook, likes. Their newer model of pay to promote, and that I cannot see all of the posts from friends, businesses that I do like, and way too often really old posts are at the top of my stream.

Until social media matures enough in the search results to actually take you to the post/tweet that was indexed it's not where the focus should be. Focus on the website, setup an RSS feed that can be sent out using MailChimp or another provider, and have your news land in my mailbox. Do the "take me to your website", and maybe (if I can) I will share it on Facebook or Twitter.